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Tag: competitive executives in the business

Desiree Perez enjoys keeping herself away from the public eye. That privacy was disturbed last year when Billboard Magazine named the COO of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation music conglomerate as one of the music industry’s most powerful executive. The New York City native is known to those in the industry as one of the most intelligent and fiercely competitive executives in the business, but she likes to keep to herself.

Des, as she is called by those who know her, has been a very close friend and business advisor to Jay-Z for over 20 years. He has kept her close to him through all of his business dealings and is though to trust her opinion in all things. She helped him run his previous company, SC Enterprises for nearly 10 years. Prior to that, Des was a successful manager of many New York night clubs and music venues. When Jay-Z formed Roc Nation there was no doubt that Perez was going to play a big role in the venture. She was named COO of Roc Nation in 2009 and the rest is history.

Des is known by all in the entertainment industry as a tough negotiator who has a ‘take no prisoners’ approach to business. She has been the lead negotiator in most of Roc Nation’s dealings over the past decade, and helped secure deals for Rihanna with Samsung and for Beyoncé’s Foundation Stadium. She took over for the company’s new music streaming service, TIDAL, in 2016. She made immediate new when, in January of 2016, she led negotiations with Sprint for one-third of TIDAL. The deal cost Sprint $200 million and gave TIDAL lone access to its 45 million subscribers.

Des Perez will continue to keep herself out of the public spotlight but it will become increasingly difficult as she makes headlines with her business success.